Neil Halstead releases a new EP, Spin the Bottle, on May 13. The digital-only release features re-recorded version of Spin the Bottle from Halstead’s latest solo album, Palindrome Hunches, a low-key live recording of a new song, ‘Chasing Rainbows’, and a remix of ‘Full Moon Rising’ by Mark Van Hoen (Locust, Seefeel).
The original album version of Spin the Bottle – recorded in Oxfordshire with the Wallingford- based Band Of Hope – is augmented by a newly re-recorded take, featuring drums from Neil’s Mojave 3 and Slowdive bandmate Ian McCutcheon and pedal steel from Melvin Duffy. The new arrangement turns this introspective song, which Neil says is about “opening up to the person you love”, into soaring cosmic country, reminiscent of Beachwood Sparks at their best.